IRCTC fined ₹20k for cancelling tickets an hour before departure

 IRCTC fined ₹20k for cancelling tickets an hour before departure

Apr 7, 2024, 04.47 AM IST

Hyderabad: A district consumer forum has directed the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to pay 20,000 as compensation for cancelling confirmed tickets at the eleventh hour during festival season rush.

In her complaint to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission–II, Hyderabad, Khursheed Begum said she had booked four tickets through an app for the Howrah Special Train to travel from Secunderabad to Vizianagaram on Jan 13, 2021. She had paid 6,470 for 2AC and also received confirmation via email.

But on the day of the journey, Khursheed said she received an automated call informing her of cancellation of her booked tickets while she was waiting at the platform to board the train and merely an hour before travel. She said that no reason had been given for the cancellation. The complainant also pointed out that she received no response from the customer care centre despite calling it multiple times to find out the reason for the cancellation.

She said that as her travel plan was during Sankranti, all buses had been booked and with great difficulty her family managed to get a ticket for an ordinary bus, incurring additional expense of 4,589, to reach Vizianagaram.

A complaint was filed by her with the consumer forum on the grounds that cancelling tickets an hour before departure without assigning a valid reason amounted to deficiency of service and unfair trade practice. Despite serving notice, IRCTC did not appear before the forum and was considered ex parte.

During the trial, the commission confirmed that the tickets were cancelled when the consumer was waiting on the platform at the Secunderabad railway station.

“As no valid reasons have been assigned by the opposite party for either abrupt cancellation of confirmed tickets an hour before departure of train or deducting 470 while refunding the fare, we are under the considered view that it is just and reasonable to order considerable compensation to be payable to the complainant for inconvenience and hardship caused to her and her family apart from the refund of deducted amount,” the bench said.